Slavery in the North and South

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses and analyzes the topic of slavery. Specifically, it summarizes the true picture of the relationship between slavery and Americans of both regions, including the impact of racism on the thinking of all white Americans of this era. The paper contends that while slavery was dominant in the south and less dominant in the north and west, it was not entirely a regional issue. Beliefs and ideals differed in the north and south and not all residents of either area exhibited only one view of slavery.

From the Paper:

"While it is common to believe that the South and all southerners supported slavery, and the North and all northerners were abolitionists, this is not the case. Throughout the North, there were many slave owners, and throughout the South, there were many people who did not believe in slavery. In addition, it is clear from the racial inequities that continued after the Civil War, that there was an overwhelming belief in the country that blacks, free or not, were inferior to whites. The South continued to persecute blacks, and the North continued to allow it to happen until 1964, when the Civil Rights Act was finally passed, nearly 100 years after the end of the Civil War. Many northerners may have disliked slavery, but that did not stop them from doing profitable business with southern slave owners, and even keeping slaves in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C. One historian notes, "Initially in Washington, slavery and the slave trade likewise flourished out of the public eye" (Davis). However, it did flourish right up until the Civil War began. It seems incongruous that slavery existed in the capital of the nation that ended up broken in two over the issue, but this illustrates that slavery was not just a southern issue, slaves were held in the North, too."

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